Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon on Monday said that the country’s paper mill owners have assured the supply of all necessary paper for printing textbooks for the next academic year at market prices and on time, without any artificial crisis.
The minister shared this information while briefing journalists following a meeting with the country’s leading paper mill owners and representatives held at the conference room of the Ministry of Education at Secretariat.
He noted that in previous years, press owners often complained of not receiving paper on time or facing artificial shortages and price hikes at the last minute.
This meeting with renowned paper mill owners was organised to eliminate such coordination gaps and syndicates. The owners have promised not to increase prices and to provide paper at a fixed market rate on schedule.
The minister said, “We are determined to hand over quality books to students on time, in accordance with the announcement made by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. Our primary objective is to ensure that books are printed on quality domestic paper.”
He added that following this assurance from mill owners, a meeting with printing press owners would also be conducted. Contracts will be signed under a legal framework to ensure no party can breach the agreement midway.
According to the minister, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has initiated the printing of approximately 310 million (31 crore) books for the upcoming academic year, which will require an estimated 80,000 metric tonnes of paper.
He further mentioned that, given the capacity of domestic mills, this large volume of paper can be supplied within just two months. The mill owners have pledged to supply at least 55,000 metric tonnes of quality paper per month.
Representatives from various companies expressed their commitment to ensuring the quality of domestic paper, including Bashundhara Paper Mills Ltd Deputy Managing Director Md Mustafizur Rahman, Meghna Paper Mills Ltd General Manager Md Yearul Islam Biddut, T K Chemical Complex Ltd GM Managing Director Mostafa Kamal, and Base Papers Ltd General Manager Md Jabbar.
Additionally, Md Shakhawat Hossain of Swiss Quality Paper (BD), Md Feroz Ahmed, director of Creative Paper Mills, Masud Kamal Rana of Ethical Pulp & Paper Mills, and Md Lutfar Rahman of Partex Paper Mills, among others, assured the government of full support to ensure the successful printing of books on time.
Following the discussions with paper mill owners, the Ministry of Education is set to meet with press owners shortly.
The meeting was also attended by Abdul Khalek, secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division; Professor Mohammed Fakhrul Mawla, chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB); and other senior officials of the ministry.
